Maggie walked inside to her house after school. Jimmy wasn't there but Whiskey sat by the backdoor whimpering, practically with crossed-legs. Maggie chuckled and opened the back door to take him outside so he could use the bathroom. She took in the fresh air and the scenery around her. The blue skies, green trees, yellow butterflies were just breath-taking. And in the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a reddish brown, rotten apple. Compliments of her white-trash neighbor's eleven year old punk she was sure. He was always into mischief. She grabbed a tissue from her bag and carefully picked up the half-eaten apple and threw it back into their yard.

That punk had stolen their lawn ornaments, vandalized their cars, and stolen from their garage and that for the most part was all they knew about. Other neighbors had said to have seen the kid smoking cigarettes and egging other homes while he was supposed to be at school. Multiple neighbors complained to the parents but they could care less what their kid does. Laziness. The police have been involved a few times but each time they said they can't do anything without proof. And also each time someone would accuse him of something, him and his parents would claim that it wasn't him.

Whiskey did his business and they both trotted back inside. Maggie's phone buzzed with a new text message.

Riley: I'm on my way home frm school 2 get dressed b4 our date. Where do u live so I can print out directions while I'm there.Maggie: oooh what are you gonna wear tonight?Riley: a tux. U?Maggie:…seriously?Riley: no lol. Probably a button-down n khakis or something. Plz tell me I don't have to wear a tie…;(Maggie: haha no, u don't need a tie.Riley: good. So how bout that address?

Maggie laughed and quickly texted her address to him before she jumped in the shower. She likes long showers. She usually stays in there for 30 minutes up to an hour. Her dad used to complain all the time about it but eventually he let it go. Thirty minutes passed as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her. She applied some mousse to her wet hair and toweled the water out. After her hair felt damp she began to blow it dry with the hair dryer that she rarely ever uses except for special events and occasions. She used a wide round brush to curl her ends under and up in different directions to form a pretty busty wave look.

She heard Jimmy at the door and decided to meet him there. She walked outside as Jimmy was stepping up on the porch and she saw a white rose on her porch swing. She smiled as Jimmy asked who it was from and walked over to read the tag. "I hate the color red so I couldn't get you a red rose:). Hope that was okay. Miss you're pretty eyes. See you tonight. –Riley" Luckily she hated red too. She smiled and walked right passed Jimmy as if he was invisible and proceeded to get ready. She threw on her pale green sundress that she had set out earlier and cinched it at the waist with a wide brown, braided belt and finished off her outfit with some bracelets, her starfish necklace and her favorite pair of stylish cowboy boots. You know the saying that every woman needs to have at least one little black dress in her closet? Well, down in the south, that little black dress looks mighty fine with a pair of cowboy boots.

Before she knew it, the door bell rang and suddenly Jimmy had a rifle in hand as he rushed to the door. Maggie also rushed to the door in a craze to stop him as he opened the front door to greet Riley. Too late…Maggie thought as she grimaced.

"Hi. Who are you?", Jimmy said before Riley could say hello."Dad, quit! You're gonna scare him away!" Maggie fussed."I ain't pointin' the gun at him am I?" Jimmy said as he then pointed the gun. "There, now he has a reason to be scared!""DAD!"Jimmy softened, "okay, okay…" Jimmy said softly."Thankyou…This is Riley. I met him at the festival this year." Maggie explained."Its nice to meet you sir," Riley said with ease. It seemed as if he wasn't even nervous!"Hmm..nice to meet you Riley. What's your interest in my daughter?" Jimmy said condescending."Dad, we're leaving now!" Maggie said through her teeth."Okay! Be careful! Have fun! Don't forget you have mace in your purse!" Jimmy yelled as they walked to Riley's pickup.

"I'm so sorry." Maggie said, "I'm so embarrassed."Riley chuckled, "It's no big deal. I've dealt with dad's before. I've been held at gun point on the first date plenty of times.Maggie stopped, "Really?"Riley laughed nervously, "no, I was trying to make you feel better. If it helps, I wasn't scared though. He never cocked it back so I figured he wasn't gonna shoot me yet."Maggie blushed, "Again, I'm so sorry.""Trust me, don't worry about it. Let's just go see the movie." Riley smiled, "You look beautiful."

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